When Wayne was a Whippersnapper: Yanks vs. Dutch

Friday

Jul 13, 2012 at 4:00 AM

By Paul Locher Staff Writer

RITTMAN -- With the largely Pennsylvania German settlements that would eventually combine to become the city of Rittman located just a stone's throw from the southern boundary of Connecticut's Western Reserve lands, there was constantly a jangling between the New England "Yankees" of Guilford Township in southern Medina County and the "Dutchmen" of Milton Township in northern Wayne.

While the two groups had to work together by necessity to cut trees through the wilderness and build roads and bridges, there was always an innate sense of friendly one-upsmanship that helped make frontier life interesting, if not downright competitive.

So early on when one John Coolman, who lived four miles south of Seville in Milton Township, wanted to construct a double-size log barn and had cut down all of the trees that would be needed, he invited all of the neighboring settlers around Guilford, Westfield, Wadsworth and Milton Township to a barn raising.

Coolman offered a gallon of whiskey to the locality whose representatives would be the first at his farm for the event.

At 2 a.m. a group of men from Guilford Township carrying torches and axes arrived at Coolman's, woke the family and demanded the promised whiskey. After taking a drink all around, they lay down by the fire to sleep.

Just before daylight the Milton Township contingent arrived and were much chagrined when they were informed the Yankees had beaten them by several hours.

Rather than disturb the harmony of the occasion, the victorious Yankees treated their rivals, and themselves, to another drink all around before sitting down to breakfast.

After that, Coolman supervised the choosing of captains for both teams, saying he wanted to see which were the best barn-builders, the Dutch or the Yankees. Each team then took half the log structure, and it is said the effort produced what was perhaps the fastest barn raising ever in the history of the area.

In the election of 1860, the Yankee/Dutch rivalry reared its head in the form of political enthusiasm. "Pole raisings" -- a throwback to colonial Liberty Poles -- were a popular feature of the campaign. The largely Republican Yankees of Seville put up a higher pole for Abraham Lincoln than their Dutch Democratic rivals by cleverly splicing two poles together.

The Democratic committee, trying to surpass the Republicans, offered a silk flag to the township sending the largest delegation to a rally in Seville. The prize was presented to the Milton Dutchmen who came with a wagon fitted with a tall hickory flagpole, drawn by 50 horses. Each horse carried a rider and the wagon carried 44 attractive young ladies all dressed in white.

The flag won that day and became a valued possession of the Dutchmen for many years.

Source: "Arise Wild Land" by Lindsey Williams

Saturday: Tobacco farming was once big business

Reporter Paul Locher can be reached at 330-682-2055 or email plocher@the-daily-record.com.